This is what Burbank said in METHODS AND DISCOVERIES AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION PREPARED FROM HIS ORIGINAL FIELD NOTES COVERING MORE THAN 100,000 EXPERIMENTS MADE DURING FORTY YEARS DEVOTED TO PLANT IMPROVEMENT WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF The Luther Burbank Society AND ITS ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP UNDER THE EDITORIAL DIRECTION OF John Whitson and Robert John AND Henry Smith Williams, M« D., LL« D, Volume IX : "Another interesting hybridization was that effected between the pardalinum and a species of the native trillium, a plant familiar in our woods under the name of drooping night-shade. The trillium is, of course, a lily, but, like Alstroemeria, it belongs to a different genus from the leopard lily, and its strikingly different appear- ance has already been referred to. The hybrids produced by this strange union were dwarfs with broad, lily-like foliage, with blos- soms that resembled those of the trillium — having three very broad, flat, greenish-white or yellow petals, and three narrower petals, like sepals. A plant that thus bore a close resemblance as to foliage and general appearance to the leopard lily, yet which had blossoms like those of the wake- robin (though somewhat larger and coarser) made a very striking and interesting exhibit. The species of trillium used in this cross was the common native Trillium ovatum. The hybrids, although in themselves so interest- ing, proved lacking in vitality, and notwithstanding my efforts all died — ^not, however, before I had secured photographs of the strange trillium-lily combination. Among all my experiments with the lilies* there is perhaps no other result quite as interesting as this hybridization with the trillium. Its results suggest the desirability of further experiments along similar lines. There is an almost boundless opportunity for new series of investigations with members of this very extensive group. The plants may readily be cross-fertilized by the amateur, and interesting re- results must follow almost as a matter of course." Joe Joseph SealsConsultantArroyo Grande, CaliforniaCell: 805-823-5696 New book: "Central Coast Gardening Essentials"more info at: http://www.centralcoastkitchenandgarden.com / --- On Sat, 6/23/12, Max Withers <maxwithers@gmail.com> wrote: From: Max Withers <maxwithers@gmail.com> Subject: [pbs] A wide cross in "Liliaceae" To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Date: Saturday, June 23, 2012, 9:31 PM An article in last July's Pacific Horticulture about Luther Burbank's work on Lilies mentioned almost as aside that Burbank successfully crossed Lilium pardalinum and Trillium ovatum, although he was unable to propagate the offspring. If I didn't actually gasp, I at least whistled out loud when I read this, it seemed so unlikely. Further internet research has reinforced my doubts, as I tracked down the following chromosome counts: Lilium pardalinum 2n=24 Trillium ovatum 2n=10 I don't see how such a cross would have been possible, but I have a feeble grasp of genetics, math, and plant breeding, Can anyone correct me? Best, Max Withers Oakland CA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/